Many forms of "electronic entertainment" that use video screens, such as a multitude of video and computer games and home video have proliferated in the home. As a result, television broadcasters and entertainment content providers, for example, have been faced with the challenge of enhancing the appeal of television and other programming in order to stay competitive with these alternative forms of home entertainment. One solution is to introduce special effects to a viewable program together with a degree of interactivity between the program and the viewer. A primary challenge for broadcasters and other content providers is to deliver this increased entertainment value at a very low cost to the consumer.
Numerous schemes for introducing new effects to, and/or enhancing the visual content of, television or other image media have been suggested, including three-dimensional viewing of a two-dimensional display, the broadcast of subliminal messages, and using a television screen as a method of art instruction. However, none of these effects provide for low-cost and interactive video entertainment for children. Thus, a need exists for a low cost, special effects system and method for playing interactively with television broadcasts or other video transmission media in order to increase the entertainment value of these transmissions.